Switch
by Matthew1
Summary: Gadget experiences life from a different angle.
1. Default Chapter

  
Switch  
Part I  
by Matthew Kirby  
rixlan@msn.com  
  
  
You can tell a lot about a man by how he keeps house. Chip was learning this   
as he and Gadget rummaged through a chaotic collection of junk. Even if he hadn't   
known that Norton Nimnul had once operated out of this shack he could have easily   
guessed it. It was a mirror of the man's mind; bits and pieces of brilliance thrown to-  
gether in no particular order. Gadget obviously shared his point of view.  
"How did he find anything in this mess?", she asked no one in particular.  
This was a far cry from her workshop back at RRHQ. To the casual observer it   
might appear equally disorganized but she always knew precisely where everything   
was. Her tools, though they looked slip shod (being made from human cast-offs), were   
also maintained in immaculate condition. Geegaw Hackwrench had drummed into his   
daughter the importance of properly caring for tools and equipment. This place was the   
antithesis of everything she'd been taught.  
"If Nimnul had a system it's probably as scrambled as the rest of his brain," Chip   
said.  
He added a last piece to a small pile he'd been building on the window ledge.   
He looked down, making sure it lined up with the trailer (a skateboard Gadget had   
modified for her purposes) hitched to the Rangermobile, and began to push.  
"Chip, stop!" Gadget ran over and pushed her way in front of her friend.  
"That's delicate equipment. We'll have to rig a block and tackle and lower it   
down.  
He sighed. "This little parts-run of yours is turning into a major project, Gadget."  
The young mouse looked sheepish. "Well, I guess we should have done this in a   
series of smaller trips. I've been meaning to scavenge this place for a while but new   
cases kept coming up. Now that they're tearing it down we'll have to get as much as we   
can in this one trip." As if to punctuate this the sound of a bulldozer starting up assailed   
their ears. The rest of the lot had already been cleared for the new building project.   
Nimnul's shack would be the last to go.  
Gadget had high hopes for this salvage job. She found it very frustrating that all   
the ingenious (albeit warped) inventions pitted against them were invariably lost before   
she could see how they worked. And not just Nimnul's devices. Perhaps the sweetest   
plum of all had been the space pod Dale had crashed in the lake. What she would   
have given for a chance to take that apart! But, before she could assemble any un-  
derwater salvage equipment it had been found by some sanitation workers. They   
thought it was a just toy and tossed it in the trash. She kept an eye peeled whenever   
she was out looking for parts but had never discovered which dump it had been sent to.  
"Or maybe it's not in a dump at all", she thought wryly. "Maybe one of them took   
it home to their kids. The most advanced technological artifact on Earth could, at this   
moment, be lying at the bottom of a child's toy box."  
  
  
History is determined not so much by brilliant strategies in war and shrewd diplo-  
macy in peace as it is by coincidence and happenstance. Minor decisions and acci-  
dents, in fact, make up history. It was a minor decision, for example, for Jacob Evans to   
take a short cut through the old lot during his morning jog. And it was just a coinci-  
dence that he leaned to rest against the window frame where Chip and Gadget had   
been piling equipment, and this is our story really gets started.  
At fifty-five Jacob was still a powerfully built man with his hair just beginning to   
grey. His attention was immediately caught by the collection of components. After   
studying them for a few moments he went inside. The two rodents quickly hid though   
there was no need. Evans was far too absorbed by the contents of the shack to notice   
it's only two occupants. After about ten minutes of examining defunct inventions and   
rifling through stacks of old notes he left.  
The two rodents scrambled up to the window sill and looked out. Jacob was ap-  
proaching the bulldozer and motioning for it to stop. Chip and Gadget never heard the   
conversation that took place between him and the driver. Except for the roar of the en-  
gine they might have been watching a silent tableau. Jake's side was very animated,   
often gesturing back towards the shack. The driver seemed indifferent, even bored and   
then suddenly burst out laughing. By this time a number of workmen had drifted over   
and whatever they overheard caused them to laugh as well.   
Then Jake pulled out his wallet. All laughing stopped as he began counting out   
bills.  
The next thing they knew, they were the target of a veritable stampede. As she   
and Chip ran for cover Gadget made her first big mistake. Rather than follow Chip   
down to the floor, she dashed across a workbench, perhaps hoping to grab a few   
pieces of equipment before it was too late. The door was nearly knocked off it's hinges   
as hardhatted humans pushed their way in. One man propped up a crate at one end of   
Gadget's workbench and, with his other arm, swept the entire contents of the table top   
into it.  
As Chip looked on in horror everything in the shack was quickly boxed, bundled,   
and carried away. Following the men outside he saw that it was all being loaded into a   
beat-up pickup truck. The man who had caused all this had a few words with the driver   
then sprinted off.  
Chip grappled with momentary indecision; split between making a try for the   
pickup or following on the Rangermobile. The decision was made for him when the   
truck peeled out, kicking up a shower of gravel and dirt. Chip ran for the motorized   
skateboard and kicked the switch that brought the engine to life. He knew he wouldn't   
have much time to catch up. Thanks to Gadget's technical wizardry the small vehicle   
could actually match the speed of a car or truck, but only for a few minutes at a time.   
Any longer and either the engine would burn out or the battery would be completely   
drained. Sometimes both.  
The Rangermobile sped down the street, keeping pace with the pickup.  
"Gadget!", Chip yelled.  
He doubted he could be heard over the sound of traffic but there was little he   
could do without her cooperation. When repeated calls yielded no answer he decided   
to take action on his own. Keeping one foot on the accelerator and bracing the other on   
the vehicle's skate key steering wheel he reached behind the seat. He didn't recall   
Gadget packing the plunger-harpoon but just the same knew it would be there. It was   
almost unthinkable for her to be without one. Securing one end of the line to the Rang-  
ermobile he drew a bead on his target. As he took aim, however, the truck began pull-  
ing ahead. He leaned harder on the accelerator only to find it was already on the floor.  
'We can't be out of power already,' he thought.  
He glanced back at the rear-mounted hair dryer which served as the vehicle's   
means of propulsion. Though he didn't see smoke trailing from it as he'd feared, he did   
see why he was losing speed. Chip sighed. Gadget would be furious about what he   
was about to do. But then that was the idea, to ensure that she would be around to be   
furious. He grabbed the release cable that ran back to the trailer coupling and yanked   
hard. The Rangermobile shot forward as nearly a full mornings work spilled out across   
the road.  
Chip took aim again and scored a direct hit on the truck's bumper. There was a   
sharp jerk as the line went taut. Switching off the engine he strapped himself in and   
settled back. He flirted briefly with the notion of making his way, hand over hand, along   
the line to the truck. After all, Gadget might be hurt and require immediate attention.   
Unfortunately, someone was needed to steer the Rangermobile. It would do no good to   
rescue Gadget only to have their means of escape smashed to bits by a pothole. He   
would just have to wait till they reached their destination and take it from there.  
  
The chief problem with work, as far as Alex was concerned, was that the work-  
day started too early. Which meant waking up at an ungodly hour; going though wash-  
ing, dressing and feeding yourself while half asleep; and then fighting your way through   
traffic to get to work just to put in eight hours of hard labor.  
Alex Spender was not a morning person.  
Alex leaned back from the monitor, brushing his dark hair away from blue-gray   
eyes. His hard labor currently consisted of tracking down the bug that had been plagu-  
ing the data retrieval system. He had managed to narrow it down to a software problem   
as opposed to hardware. Though, "narrow" might have been the wrong word since he   
would now have to search through umpty-million lines of code. Even with the help of   
diagnostic software it was going to be mind numbing work. All things considered he   
was relieved when the call came to drop everything and report to lab five. At director   
Evens' orders no less. Alex reflected that having an old friend of the family as a supe-  
rior had advantages. Not that Jacob showed him any favoritism but he was not adverse   
to offering the occasional perk. Just Alex was not adverse to accepting them.  
Lab five, it turned out, was fairly isolated in a part of the building complex not cur-  
rently in use. Like all the lab rooms it had a series of computer terminals, and work-  
benches. It was also packed full of boxes and bundled papers. There was no sign of   
Evans, but then the man might not even be in the building yet. His higher-ups didn't   
seem to care what hours he kept as long as he got the job done. Alex was just starting   
to rummage through some boxes out of curiosity when he burst in.  
Jacob scanned the room, his eyes wide with what could only be called wonder.   
Alex was reminded of a child coming downstairs on Christmas morning to find brightly   
wrapped presents piled under the tree. As he would discover, that analogy was very   
apt.  
"Isn't it beautiful?" he breathed. "What a find!"  
"Uh, sir," said Alex, "what exactly is 'it'?"  
Jacob grinned broadly and grabbed a bundle of papers off a nearby stack. He   
untied them and proffered a sheaf of papers to Alex.  
"Have you ever heard the name Norton Nimnul?"  
  
Gadget regained consciousness slowly. Her first thought was, 'My bed is awful   
lumpy.' She felt around, trying to rearrange sheets and pillows, only to realize she   
wasn't in bed at all. She was, in fact, half buried in a box of electronic components.   
The sides of a wooden crate loomed up around her. Directly above was a fluorescent   
light fixture. Then it all came back; the parts run, being swept off the table, and then   
blackness. She quickly took stock of herself. Over the course of years of workshop   
mishaps she had become quite efficient at first-aid. There were numerous scratches   
and abrasions, as well as a sizable bump on her head. However, there didn't seem to   
be any serious damage. She also couldn't move her right foot. There was no pain   
though. It seemed to be caught on something. Gadget was quite aware of the pres-  
ence of the two humans. Their voices carried clearly across the room. She began to   
dig, moving aside transistors, capacitors, ICs and circuit boards. She moved slowly,   
trying to avoid unnecessary noise, all the while following the conversation going on   
around her.  
  
"So this guy is a scientist?" asked Alex.  
"He calls himself a professor, though I don't know if he had any formal training. If   
he did the school never gave him a sheepskin."  
Jacob had fired up a computer terminal and called up the Official Mad Scientists   
Web Page. He had been surprised such a thing existed, though he knew he shouldn't   
have been. There were web pages for just about everything. Norton Nimnul's bio page   
was mostly taken up by a police rap sheet.  
"Note the particulars of his crimes. The testimony of eyewitnesses hints at some   
very intriguing technology. Miniaturization. Weather control. Even anti-gravity, or   
something very much like it."  
"If he could invent all that then why was he wasting time on crimes? If it was   
money he wanted all he had to do market any one of them and he'd be the richest man   
on Earth."  
"Well, there's a reason they call them 'mad' scientists," said Jacob. "And the   
Cops could never find his machines. Or, at least, what they did find was to busted up to   
make any sense out of."  
He turned away from the screen, taking in the contents of the lab once more.  
"Can you believe this was just lying around like so much junk? If I'd taken my   
usual route today by now all this would be bulldozed to oblivion. Instead, with the out-  
lay of a few paultry bribes, this technological treasure trove is all ours."  
Alex raised a hand, "Um, question. Doesn't all this stuff and the ideas behind it   
belong to Nimnul?"  
Jacob gave a dismissive shrug. "I never said we wouldn't cut him in. A small cut   
of course. After all, we'd be doing all the work of developing this into practical, usable   
technology. I doubt he has much use for money these days anyway."  
He gestured towards the screen. "He's got a permanent room at the state men-  
tal hospital."  
"Paranoid delusions," Alex confirmed. "He thinks rodents are out to get him."  
Across the room, unseen by either man, a mouse smiled.  
Jacobs's mind was filled with visions of room temperature superconductors and   
cold fusion reactors. Alex, however, was not so easily convinced.  
"I still can't buy into this. Some of the technology you're describing isn't even al-  
lowed by natural law as we understand it."  
"So maybe we don't understand it as well as we thought. C'mon you've got the   
evidence right in front of you," he tapped the papers Alex had been skimming over.   
"You can't tell me you're not at least intrigued."  
Alex was forced to admit his interest was peaked. While the descriptions were   
nonsense the schematics and formulae that accompanied them actually looked... plau-  
sible.  
"So, our first job is to make sense of all these chicken scratchings." Jacob pulled   
a handtruck out of a supply closet and began piling bundled papers onto it. "For now   
we'll keep the project small. Just you, me and some people I know in Data Processing.   
We'll bring in more personnel as we need them but I don't want to start anything major   
until we know exactly what we've got here."  
He began wheeling the papers out the door.  
›"Where are you going?"  
"Data Processing, like I said. This'll be a lot easier if we let a computer organize   
and corollate this data."  
Alex made a face. From what he had seen most of this was handwritten so it   
couldn't be scanned in. Some one would have to type it all in manually. He didn't envy   
them the task.  
"So what job did you have in mind for me?" he asked.  
"I want you to make a start on all this equipment. It'll take days to get all this into   
the computer. For now, catalog as much of this as you can. Find out what it does or is   
supposed to do. I'll send for the rest of the notes later."  
He disappeared out the door.  
  
By this time Gadget had dug enough of herself free to stand up. Her foot was   
still caught but if she stretched she could just peek over the top of the crate. One hu-  
man remained in the room. He had carried a box over to a workbench and was ex-  
amining the contents.  
The young mouse was in the grip of mixed emotions. Nimnul was a dangerous   
man, but danger on a small scale. His inventions were for his own exclusive use. What   
would happen if those same inventions became available to the general public? Also,   
though she would never have admitted it, she held certain proprietary feelings for this   
equipment. This find, this technological treasure trove, was her's not some human's!   
She shook her head trying to clear it. Whatever she was going to do she had to   
get free first. She moved aside a few more components and found the problem. It was   
a ring shaped device, like a bracelet, although it didn't seem designed to worn as one.   
There was a clip on one side. This was what had caught her foot. It was as she   
reached down to free herself that it happened.  
Alex had come across a small bracelet shaped device. As it appeared intact he   
decided to run a charge through it to see what would happen. The moment he attached   
the power leads it was as if the current were running through his own body. His initial   
thought of "Electrocution!" was shoved aside as saw what was happening too his sur-  
roundings. The room seemed to explode around him! The roof was rising higher. The   
walls were all moving away. Only the floor was moving towards him. Very quickly.   
Then what felt like a canvas tarp fell over him. He felt like a parachutist just fallen to   
earth only to be covered by his own chute. He struggled underneath the material and   
finally fought his way clear.  
The first thing that struck him was that he was in a different room. A room that   
was to lab five as an aircraft hanger was to a garden shed. As he looked up and   
around, he soon realized it *was* lab five. As viewed by some one about four inches   
tall. His mind flashed back to his earlier conversation. Evans had mentioned minia-  
turization. Had he inadvertently shrunk himself? For the first time since the shock he   
looked down at himself.  
He was furry.  
Fine grey fur covered his arms. In fact, it covered his entire body, fading into   
white on his chest and stomach. He could see this since he was now completely na-  
ked. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that the "tarp" which had fallen over him was   
his own clothing. Alex tentatively reached up to his face. He encountered a pointed   
snout with whiskers sprouting from either side. Given the circumstances his next action   
was completely understandable. He fainted.   
  
Gadget fared somewhat better. She was also hit by an electrical shock but at   
this point in her life she was used to them. On her personal "electrocution" scale she   
would have given it a three; a weak four at best. Rather than explode the room actually   
seemed to collapse in on her. The crate she had been trapped in burst apart as it be-  
came to small too hold her. The table she was on collapsed, unable to support the sud-  
den weight. Gadget found herself sprawled on the floor amidst the wreckage. Quickly   
checking herself for damage she discovered two things. First, she was naked. Second,   
she was human.  
"Golly!"  
As her work with the Rangers had given her an unusually high tolerance for   
weirdness, Gadget was spared a fainting spell. In fact, modesty won out over shock   
and she looked around for some thing to cover herself with. The best she could do was   
a lab coat some one had left draped over a chair. As she stood to button it up she was   
hit by an odd feeling of vertigo. She certainly had no fear of heights, but she was view-  
ing the room from a vantage point over five feet above the floor. Yet her senses told   
her she was standing normally. She swayed a little but found her balance as she tried   
to work out what had happened.  
She had recognized the device her foot had been caught on. Nimnul's metamor-  
phosizer. The twisted genius had used it to switch his form with that of other animals,   
using their natural abilities to commit crimes. So, if she had taken on the form of a hu-  
man then that meant... Gadget quickly spun around to face the workbench where the   
man had been working. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't given him a   
thought till now. He was gone. In his place was a pile of clothing. Next to the clothes,   
lying flat on it's back, was a small grey mouse.  
  
While this drama was being played out in lab five Chip was having his own prob-  
lems. He had arrived safely at their destination, that destination being a complex of   
buildings identified by a large sign as "Optimum Technologies". But not without inci-  
dent. Crossing over a section of asphalt which had been deeply scored, apparently in   
preparation for repaving, the plunger harpoon had been jarred loose. After a frantic   
search he had finally caught sight of the truck just as the last of the boxes were being   
unloaded. Following them into the building he had quickly become lost. The entire   
complex was a multi-level maze. He considered going for the other Rangers so they   
could mount a proper search operation, except that he couldn't find his way out of the   
building either. He pressed on, determined to find Gadget.  
  
Gadget knelt by the newly made mouse and, leaning forward, poked him gently.  
"Hello," she said tentatively. "Are you alright?" Her voice sounded strange to   
her ears, deeper than usual.  
Alex had been awake nearly a minute by then but had not opened his eyes. His   
thoughts were divided into two camps. One fervently hoped it had all been a dream   
and wanted him to open his eyes to confirm this. The other was terrified that it hadn't   
been a dream and wanted him to keep his eyes closed so he couldn't confirm it. It was   
Gadget who broke the stalemate. Alex didn't recognize the voice but that didn't matter.   
There was some one here now. Whatever the problem was, he would have help. Ev-  
erything would be alright. Right?  
He opened his eyes.  
"Aaaarrrrgggghhh!"  
Alex scrambled back only to become entangled in his own clothes again. He lay   
there, nearly in hysterics. His breath came hoarse and rapid, his body was shaking in   
terror.  
Gadget fell back at the sound of his scream. She had expected shock, even   
fear, but finding himself face to face with what from his perspective was a giant was ap-  
parently more than he could deal with.  
"It's alright," she said softly. "No one's going to hurt you. It's OK."  
She continued on in this manner, not quite realizing she had assumed the same   
tones and attitude that any human would use to calm a frightened animal. Fortunately,   
it had the desired effect. Gradually the trembling subsided and his breathing slowed.  
Alex lay back in a cushion of clothing and regarded the giant woman who loomed   
over him. 'No. Not a giant,' he thought. 'I've shrunk!' She could have been in her early   
twenties. Blue eyed, with a mane of red-blonde hair reaching down to her waist. Quite   
attractive, really. The kind of woman he would have liked to meet had he still been the   
proper species. She was wearing a white lab coat. In fact, that seemed to be all she   
was wearing.  
"Believe me, I know what you're going through," she was saying. "A few minutes   
ago you were human and now you're a mouse. Well, a few minutes ago I was a   
mouse and now I'm human. The other half of the equation, I guess. What's your   
name? I'm Gadget Hackwrench."  
The answer sounded, to Gadget's human ears, like a series of high pitched   
squeaks.  
"Come again?"  
More squeaks.  
Gadget frowned. Her previous experience with a metamorphosizer had involved   
a wolf from the city zoo. As a human he had still been able to understand her and the   
other rangers. Some aspect of his wolf hearing had apparently carried over into his hu-  
man form. Not so for her. Still, they would have to establish some form of communica-  
tion if they were going to help each other.  
"It's no good. I can't understand you. Come on." She set her hand down on the   
floor, palm up.  
Alex backed away and regarded it suspiciously.  
"Look, we're going to have to trust each other. I won't hurt you. I need you to be   
a mouse again just like you need me to be human."  
Finally he climbed onto her hand. She lifted him up to the counter and set him   
down. He immediately ran to check on the metamorphosizer. It was completely fried,   
some parts even melted. No help there. He turned his attention back to Gadget. She   
had found a pad of paper and offered him a pen. This was the first time Alex had ever   
used a writing implement that was taller that he was. He found that if he held it in both   
hands (paws?) and propped it against his shoulder he could write with reasonable legi-  
bility.  
ALEX SPENDER  
"Hi, my name's Gadget. Oh, I already said that didn't I? Um, what..."  
But Alex was writing again.  
EXPLAIN  
He pointed to the remnants of the metamorphosizer.  
Gadget took a deep breath and told him, at length, about her encounter with   
Nimnul. As Alex listened he found himself captivated not so much buy the description   
of Nimnul's invention, which he had already experienced first hand, as by Gadget's de-  
scription of the world she lived in. He had jumped to the conclusion that her ability to   
speak was a by-product of the change. That functioning with a human brain had upped   
her I.Q. As her story progressed it became obvious that she was no stranger to rational   
thought. Nor were the numerous other animals she mentioned.  
Now, Alex had no illusions about his species. He knew that humans could be   
enormously arrogant and self-centered. But it amazed him that there could be a whole   
other civilization, literally at their feet, and no one had realized it. Imagine how the   
world would react when... His train of thought came to an abrupt halt. He could imag-  
ine all to clearly how the world would react. It would be chaos! The level of global   
paranoia would sky rocket as man turned his suspicions not only against his fellow man   
but against animals as well. Religion would surely figure into it as well. Most likely it   
would be seen as the work of the devil or a sign of the apocalypse. In the end it would   
all be taken out on the animals. If humans could perform acts of unspeakable cruelty   
on each other how much worse would they treat creatures that were, literally, inhuman?   
Creatures they now saw as a threat. The depredations they visited on animals even   
now would be nothing compared to the carnage that would follow. No wonder intelli-  
gence had never been recognized in animals. They intentionally kept it hidden, and   
with good reason.  
He dropped the pen and sat down with a loud, for a mouse, thump. Gadget   
stopped her oration and looked at him quizzically. He got back on his feet and wrote:  
JUST REALIZED  
CAN'T TELL ANYONE?  
Gadget thought a moment then shook her head solemnly.  
The greatest discovery in history and he couldn't tell anyone about it.  
NO TELL = NO HELP  
"I'm afraid so," she agreed. "Still, we've got plenty of equipment to work with   
here. I'm sure we can switch ourselves back."  
Gadget's optimism would prove to be short lived. The innerworkings of Alex's   
metamorphosizer were fried beyond recognition. In sifting through the scattered   
components on the floor they could find nothing resembling the device which had trans-  
formed Gadget. She had probably shattered it while growing.  
All through the search something kept nagging at Alex. He knew the word   
"metamorphosizer" from somewhere, he just couldn't remember where. He had heard it   
or seen it written some - it hit him like a bolt from the blue. The papers Jacob had given   
him to peruse. One had been a page of schematics clearly labeled "Metamorphosizer".   
He got Gadget's attention through the simple expedient of jumping up and down and   
squeaking at the top of his lungs. She immediately carried him back to his pad and   
pen.  
NOTES - SAW THEM  
DIAGRAMS, SCHEMATICS, EVERYTHING!  
"Where are they?" asked Gadget, caught up in his enthusiasm.  
Alex tried to calm down and think. He had set them on a stack of papers right   
over there. Except there was no stack of papers over there. His heart sank as he real-  
ized what must have happened. Gadget continued to look at him expectantly.  
"Well, where are they?"  
  
"Data Processing, Sharon Irving. Can I help you?"  
"Uh, yes," came a female voice from the other end of the line, "this is, um, Dr.   
Hackwrench. I'm working on a special project for director Evans. I believe he had   
some papers sent down there earlier."  
"Yes, that's right."  
"Well, there were some notes included in that delivery by accident. I really need   
them here so if you could have them sent..."  
"I'm sorry doctor. Director Evans has placed that material under alpha clear-  
ance. I'd need you to sign it out personally."  
There was silence on the line. An argument seemed to be going on in the back-  
ground though only one voice could be heard.  
Finally, "Uh, OK. I'll send some one. Thanks."  
  
RISKY! CAUGHT!  
"Sure there's risk," acknowledged Gadget, "but if we're going to build more meta-  
morphosizers we need those notes. I mean, sure I've worked on them before but I   
couldn't build one from scratch. If you have a better idea I'm all ears."  
Alex fumed but she was right, there was no other way.  
OK   
CAN PROVIDE CODES  
PASSWOR  
He dropped the pen, wrung his fingers, and caught his breath. Writing can be   
very tiring when you're a mouse. When Gadget looked on, concerned, he resumed   
writing.  
BE EASIER IF COULD TALK  
"I know. I've never figured out exactly why humans can't understand me. When   
I'm a mouse, I mean." A thought struck her.  
"You know, you have a smaller voice box now, so your voice must be pitched a   
lot higher," she said, thinking of how her own voice sounded lower. "I know humans   
don't hear sounds that are pitched too high. So what we need is -," her attention was   
caught by Alex.  
DEVICE - LOWER PITCH  
Gadget smiled, her mind already awhirl with possibilities. There were plenty of   
spare parts to work with and she knew basically how to build what he proposed. With   
what she had gone through already that morning a little inventing would be just the   
thing to relax her.  
  
Now, while Alex and Gadget are busy with their project, it would be worth our   
time to consider Gadget's past. Specifically her relationship with her father. Her mother   
had died when she was just a year old so she had no real memories of her. For nearly   
twenty years her life had revolved around her father. Geegaw had always known Gad-  
get was a bright, quick child though her true intelligence didn't make itself known until   
she was in school. Her first grade teacher had recognized Gadget as the prodigy she   
was. Knowing such children were often ostracized by their peers he had been careful   
not to draw attention to her. He arranged with her father for Gadget to receive special   
assignments on the side to challenge her growing intellect. Unfortunately, her second   
grade teacher used a different approach. She held Gadget up as an example for the   
rest of the class. It wasn't long before she had been branded the class brain, with all   
that entails. So she came to depend even more on her father as the only person in her   
life she could relate to. Geegaw Hackwrench had been an intelligent mouse. He was   
the best pilot of his generation and could repair and maintain his planes well enough.   
He'd taken care to teach Gadget everything he knew but he was never a match for his   
daughter's genius and eventually her knowledge surpassed his own. She didn't see it   
that way.  
To Gadget her father was the standard she could never live up to no matter how   
hard she tried. Since her inventing had gone into a slump after his death she saw this   
as confirmation. Without her father's help her inventions suffered so it was her father   
who had made them work in the first place. This was true, but not for the reasons she   
thought.  
If Gadget had one flaw as an inventor it was her tendency to focus so intently on   
one specific part of a machine, the engine for instance, that she would neglect or even   
omit other parts. Like brakes. Geegaw's most valuable contribution to her work was in   
the form of quality control. With Geegaw there to double check her work and remind   
her of anything she'd forgotten - riding the brake, as it were, of her creative exuberance   
- her inventions rarely failed.  
Since the other rangers saw Gadget's inventive moods as cues to run for cover   
this was the first joint project she'd taken part in since her father died.  
  
The work progressed smoothly enough, though they did run into a hitch or two.   
Mostly it was a matter of their newly acquired sizes. Gadget wasn't used to dealing with   
parts so small that at some points she needed to use a magnifying glass. The human   
sized tools, however, were quite convenient to use. Alex, on the other hand, wasn't   
used to dealing with parts so big. He didn't know the various tricks rodents used to   
make up for their small size so his chief contribution was in the design of the thing.   
They got as far as the testing stage only to discover that the communication barrier was   
more than a matter of mere pitch. Finally, after a little redesigning and an extra half   
hour of fine tuning, success!  
"Testing. One, two, three," Alex said.  
"You're coming in loud and clear," Gadget confirmed, putting a hand to her ear.   
A wire ran down from the ear piece to the counter where it plugged into what appeared   
to be an old transistor radio. It was the only case they could find that was the right size.  
"Not bad at all. Brush your hair forward a little and you can't even see it."  
They were both in considerably better spirits now, heartened by their success   
with the communicator. Now, there was just one last thing. It would hardly be incon-  
spicuous for Gadget to walk through the halls wearing only a lab coat. So Alex politely   
turned his head while she tried on his clothes. He used the time to hunt up an old dust   
rag which he wrapped around himself toga style. It could have been argued that in his   
current form he didn't need clothing but a lifetime of habit is hard to break.  
"OK. How do I look?" asked Gadget.  
It will be left as an exercise for the reader to imagine a humanized Gadget wear-  
ing ill-fitting men's clothes.  
Actually, the fit wasn't as bad as Alex had feared. Though proportioned differ-  
ently her overall size seemed to be the same as his had been. The metamorphosizer   
had probably used the mass from his old body to make her new one. With the coat hid-  
ing most of the ill fit it would at least be good enough for a quick trip down to data pro-  
cessing.  
"Wait a minute. The shoes are wrong."  
"Yes, they're not very comfortable," said Gadget, who usually didn't bother with   
footwear.  
"No. I don't mean the fit. I mean the style. Women don't wear shoes like that."   
Still, bare feet would have been even more noticeable so they were stuck with it.  
Finally, with the communicator safely stowed away and Alex ridding in a coat   
pocket, they were ready. Gadget opened the door and stepped out into the human   
world.  
  
  
  



	2. Switch - Part 2

Switch  
Part II  
by Matthew Kirby  
rixlan@msn.com  
  
  
Walking through the hallways Gadget was overcome by an odd feeling. Even   
though she was functioning in an alien environment, and an alien body for that matter,   
she found herself feeling a certain ... rightness about it. She didn't run into many people   
in that part of the complex but when she did she would simply nod and pass by. Nor-  
mally her automatic reaction to seeing a human would be to run for cover or press her-  
self flat against a wall. She also didn't require special climbing tools. Signs were all at   
eye level. Doorknobs and light switches were conveniently placed.  
"I could get used to this," she thought.  
By the time she had reached more populated areas she had become quite confi-  
dent of her ability to impersonate a human being. Of course, it's often during our times   
of greatest confidence that fate steps in to trip us up. To be fair it wasn't entirely   
Gadget's over confidence. It was Alex who convinced her to make the detour to his cu-  
bicle. If they had gone straight to Data Processing they would have avoided the run in   
with Kearney and the subsequent... But we're getting ahead of ourselves.  
Cubicles are one of the innovations of the modern office. They're supposed to   
create the illusion of privacy so that even the lowliest employee can feel as if he has his   
own private office. What they actually do is create the illusion of working inside a large   
cardboard box. Alex didn't use his much. His job as troubleshooter kept him moving.   
But this one had been assigned to him and he kept a few belongings there. It was one,   
or rather two, of these belongings that they were after now.  
When Evans had taken up jogging he had made a gift of very expensive running   
shoes to some of this closer friends. Looking back on it Alex realized he had probably   
been hoping to find a jogging partner but no one had taken him up on it. Alex's sneak-  
ers (he refused to call them running shoes because he figured this was a name the   
stores used to charge more) resided in the bottom most drawer of his desk. They had   
remained there, unused, since he'd gotten them. However, now he saw a use for them.   
After all, sneakers weren't gender specific were they? So, he reasoned Gadget would   
look far less conspicuous in them.  
Gadget, for her part, was just glad to make the change. The sneakers felt better   
than shoes, although they were still uncomfortably confining. Thus, newly shod, they   
continued their mission.  
  
Every large people grouping, such as a corporation, will have a certain allotment   
of jerks. The proportions remain fairly constant despite lay offs and downsizing. They   
protect themselves by possessing indispensable job skills or being well connected   
within the company. Optimum Technologies was no exception. OT's resident jerk went   
by the name of Edward Kearney. As he enters our story he is engaged in his favorite   
activity. Loving himself.  
Edward took out a comb and ran it through his hair, admiring the reflection star-  
ing back at him from the polished steel doors of the elevator. A moment later the eleva-  
tor "pinged" and opened it's doors, spoiling his self adoration but presenting him with a   
sight he found almost as pleasing.   
Gadget was uneasy. The man who had just entered the elevator made her ner-  
vous. He hadn't said anything beyond a simple "hello", but some thing about the way   
he looked at her made her skin crawl. Rat Capone looked at her like that. Even the   
way he had said "hello", stretching out the vowel sounds, was creepy.  
Peeking out of his pocket, Alex had seen Ed enter.  
"Oh, great," he said. "Edward Kearney, our corporate issue letch."  
Fortunately, only Gadget could understand him. All Edward heard were indeci-  
pherable squeals which he attributed to the elevator.  
"So, you're new here aren't you?" Ed asked. "I make it a point of knowing all the   
lovely ladies in this section."  
He gave her what he had always thought of as his most devastating smile. To   
his credit, Edward was what was usually referred to as "ruggedly hansom". Few women   
found his looks reason enough to endure his attentions, though.  
"I just started today," said Gadget, truthfully.  
"Perhaps you could use some one to show you around?" Ed leaned in closer.   
"It's easy to get lost around here if you don't know where you're going."  
"Thank you , no." Gadget sidled away from him. "I'm just going down to Data   
Processing."  
"No, don't tell him that," Alex moaned. The last thing they needed was for Ed-  
ward to decide to tag along.  
"A pity. That's a bit too far out of my way. Maybe we can get together later, say   
around two, in the executive lounge?"  
"Uh, yeah. Maybe."  
Gadget's situation was becoming increasingly awkward and she would have said   
just about anything to get out of it. Fortunately it was at this moment that the doors   
"pinged" open again revealing a lobby full of people.  
"It's a date then," said Edward. Gadget hadn't actually accepted his offer but he   
knew you'd never get anywhere waiting for a woman to make up her mind. As he   
stepped off the elevator he placed a well aimed swat on Gadget's rump.  
When looking back on it later, Gadget was never able to explain exactly what   
happened. This wasn't the first time she'd had to endure unwanted attention but this   
time it was as if something inside her snapped.  
"Hey!" she called out, attracting the attention of just about everyone in the lobby.  
Edward turned towards the sound and managed to catch a glimpse of Gadget's   
face in full fury just before her fist connected with his nose. The punch was clumsily   
thrown, Gadget was no fighter, but Ed was taken completely by surprise. He stumbled   
back a few steps, tripped over his own feet, and fell flat on his back.  
The onlookers stared at Gadget in shock as the doors closed on her.  
"You decked him! How could you do that? Not that half the people in this com-  
pany wouldn't like to take a poke at Kearney, but you're supposed to be keeping a low   
profile."  
Alex was half out of his pocket, staring up at a face that looked just as confused   
as he was.  
"I...I don't know. It was like I was suddenly remembering every unwanted pass   
and suggestive comment ever made at me and I just lashed out."  
Alex climbed up the coat, his paws finding easy purchase in the loosely woven   
fabric. He positioned himself on her shoulder, arms akimbo, and went into lecture   
mode.  
"Look, I know we don't know each other that well, but if you make a habit out of   
slugging anyone who gets on your nerves you're going to have a lot of trouble getting   
through the day. You've got to have thicker skin."  
As Alex continued Gadget felt a wave of aggravation sweep over her. As if she   
hadn't already been through enough today, now she had to listen to this rodent lecture   
to her on the proper way to behave in a civilized society. Suddenly her hand shot up to   
her shoulder, trapping Alex in a steel grip.  
"Listen, I've got enough problems to deal with already. If you think you ..." she   
trailed off, her expression changing from anger to shock as she realized what she was   
doing. She loosened her grip and lowered Alex shakily to the floor. Backing up into the   
far corner she slid down to the floor, holding her knees tightly against her chest.  
"What... what's happening to me?" she asked, miserably.  
Alex approached her cautiously, more than a little wary after having the breath   
squeezed out of him.  
"Stay back! Please!" Gadget warned. "I don't want to hurt you."  
"Just calm down."  
"Let's see how calm you would be if you were losing your mind. Maybe that's   
what metamorphosizing does to you. Nimnul wouldn't have noticed. He's already   
crazy."  
Alex, however, had another explanation. Humans, as a species, have always   
been prone to excessive violence. Both in their dealings with each other and with ani-  
mals. The why of it is something that humans themselves have long debated. Perhaps   
back in the caveman days intelligence alone wasn't enough. To make up for their defi-  
ciencies in the area of tooth and claw humans had had to rely on pure mean. Whatever   
it's origin it had stayed with them down through the ages. Even modern man had to   
deal with this evolutionary excess baggage.  
"You've got a human body now and that means you're susceptible to all our in-  
stincts and impulses. Like it or not, until we straighten this mess out you're a card carry-  
ing member of Homo Sapiens Sapiens."  
"You mean humans feel like this all the time?" she asked. Seen in this light   
some human behavior made more sense.  
"Well, I think you might have it worse than most. We spend years learning to   
keep our tempers under control and for some even that isn't enough. You haven't had   
that."  
Gadget began to relax a little. Alex still seemed to be calm and rational so it was   
unlikely the metamorphosizer had caused her fits of anger.  
"You're sure?" she asked, still a bit apprehensive.  
Alex nodded. "And now that you know what the problem is you should be able to   
handle it better. If you feel aggravated try counting to ten. People say that's supposed   
to help."  
Gadget collected Alex and got to her feet. As they exited the elevator he found   
himself experiencing misgivings. Not about Gadget, but about himself. He couldn't help   
wondering if his own new body had similar surprises in store for him.  
  
Meanwhile, Chip's search was proceeding apace. After wandering around aim-  
lessly for an hour he realized he was going about his mission all wrong. As soon as he   
found an appropriately sized aperture he went into the walls and made contact with the   
local animal community.  
Nearly every structure built by man has been infiltrated, to one degree or an-  
other, by animals. Rodents in particular had found it quite beneficial to co-habitate with   
humans. The OT complex wasn't exactly a residential district but a few rats and mice   
had carved out a niche for themselves.  
"So you haven't seen this mouse around?" Chip asked, showing Gadget's picture   
to a small group of mice. There was a chorus of low whistles.  
"Nope, haven't seen her," said the leader. "Wish I had, though."  
Chip slipped the photograph back into his jacket. It had become crinkled and   
torn from being shown around so much. A pity since he had gotten a lot of milage from   
it in his rivalry with Dale. He enjoyed alluding that Gadget had to like him better since   
she'd given him her picture. The truth of the matter was that Gadget had only given him   
that picture for one reason. He had asked for it. Chip had no doubt that she would give   
a photo to Dale if he ever thought to ask for one. Just as he had no doubt that it would   
mean as little to her.  
As he turned away, dejected, one of the mice called after him.  
"You could try lab A12. It's on the fourth floor. If any humans found her they   
might have sent her there."  
  
Getting the notes was almost an anticlimax compared to the previous events of   
the day. With Alex coaching her from hiding Gadget had no problem bluffing her way   
through security. The papers themselves were easy enough to find. Most of the   
bundles were still tied so the few loose papers were obvious. With these secured safely   
in a manila envelope they began their trek back to lab 5.  
Half way back they were again detoured. This time so Gadget could answer a   
call of nature. Alex waited, perched on a sink, starring into the mirror. Was that really   
him? A small, furry, bucktoothed rodent starred back. He wondered if Nimnul had had   
these problems. Maybe it was an experience like this that had finally driven him over   
the edge.  
Gadget emerged from a stall. As she began to wash her hands she glanced up   
and caught her reflection. Immediately she was as captivated as Alex. Until now Gad-  
get hadn't given any thought to what she looked like. Now she stared intently at the im-  
age in the glass, trying to see the mouse she had been in the human she had become.   
The most striking change (apart from her size, of course) was her lack of fur. Not a   
complete lack but the sparse scattering of hair she saw on her arms hardly constituted a   
decent pelt. And her face looked flat and pushed in with only her nose sticking out.   
Alex was also taking the time to reappraise her. As he originally thought, she was very   
attractive. A bit tall and gangly, but then all humans were like that.  
"Hey," he called up, "did you ever have any cavities?"  
"Huh?" asked Gadget, surprised. "Uh, yes. One. Why?"  
Alex had been starring into the mirror with his mouth wide open. "Because I   
think we traded dental work. I should have ten fillings and a root canal." He grinned   
weakly. "F'raid dental hygiene wasn't my strong point as a kid."  
Gadget checked and saw that all her molars now sported filings. One looked like   
it had been capped.  
"That's strange. Although, our clothes didn't change when we did. Maybe the   
effect doesn't extend to inanimate objects."  
"So since it couldn't change them to fit our bodies," Alex picked up her train of   
thought, "it swapped them instead. Well, I guess it's better than trying to cram all that   
into a mouse sized mouth."  
They were interrupted by a voice from the hall.  
"Sure, just give me a few minutes and I'll be right there. Save me a seat."  
Carol Nolan, secretarial supervisor, walked in. Gadget immediately grabbed   
Alex and, much to his discomfort, stuffed him into his accustomed pocket. The tall bru-  
nette glanced over at Gadget.  
"Just need a few minutes to fix my face and..." she stopped, a lipstick halfway to   
her mouth.  
"You're her!" she accused, turning to face Gadget. "The one who punched out   
Kearney."  
Gadget hemmed and hawed. "Um, yeah. Well I... I mean... That is..."  
Carol grabbed her hand and began pumping it up and down.  
"Let me be the first to shake your hand. I was there when it happened. One   
punch and down he went. I'm Carol Nolan. And you are?"  
"Hackwrench. Gadget Hackwrench."  
Carol didn't even blink at the odd name. The woman was probably a technician   
and she knew they sometimes used hardware-esque nicknames.  
"There probably isn't a woman in this company Ed hasn't hit on," Carol said, turn-  
ing back to her cosmetics. "Though, none of them would have been stupid enough to   
hit him."  
"Stupid?"  
"Oh, I didn't mean that as an insult. It's just that he's said to have friends in high   
places. A few years back a woman brought him up on sexual harassment charges.   
She lost her case and her job. The scuttlebutt is that some one on high pulled some   
strings on Ed's behalf. That punch may have cost you your job."   
"Well, I'm just here for the day. I hope."  
"A temp, huh? Lucky. He could still try and make trouble, though. I'd watch my   
back if I were you."  
"Well, he had it coming," said Gadget.  
"Oh, I don't doubt it. I know some girls who - say, I'm having a late lunch with   
some friends. Why don't you come along?"  
"I don't think I can. I have some work to finish."  
"Oh, come on. I'm sure it can wait. They'd love to meet the woman who put   
Kearney in his place."  
Well..." Gadget wavered.  
To properly understand Gadget's next course of action one must take into ac-  
count her social life. Or rather, the lack thereof. As has already been explained she   
was effectively isolated from her peers as a child. In her later years, and particularly   
since she had joined the Rangers, she had met a great many people. However, there   
were few outside the Rangers she thought of as friends and even fewer of them were   
female.  
There was Melody, who would go on to such success in her racing career. But,   
Gadget had always felt she owed this friendship to the fact that they spoke the common   
language of mechanics. There was also Tammy. The young squirrel was almost as   
much of a tomboy as Gadget was. Unfortunately, she got the feeling that Tammy, if   
only on a subconscious level, still saw her as a rival for Chip's affections. As for Fox-  
glove, well, the purpose of her visits to RRHQ had nothing to do with Gadget.  
She had often seen how a large gathering of people would break up into smaller   
clusters, mostly all male or female. Try as she might she could never seem to insinuate   
herself into their midst. Now, here was a women practically begging her to join them.  
Their mission was pretty much accomplished, after all. They had the notes. As-  
sembling the metamorphosizers wouldn't take long.  
"Sure. Why not?", she said, her face breaking into a broad smile.  
A sharp squeal came from her pocket, "What?!"  
As far as Alex was concerned the job was only half done. They couldn't consider   
it finished until he and Gadget switched back, and the sooner this was accomplished   
the better. Gadget, it seemed, had other ideas and considering his current position   
there was nothing he could but go along for the ride.  
  
Harry the cat, or Whiskers as he was known in the human world, was anticipating   
a fine meal. And with very little effort on his part. The commissary at he O.T. main   
building opened out onto a large patio for outdoor dining. They always left the doors   
propped open this time of year so he simply walked in and started making rounds of the   
tables. Those who recognized him were sure to throw him a tidbit. Sometimes even   
those who did not. Harry didn't consider this begging. As he saw it, if humans were   
foolish enough to give away their food they might as well give it to him. He was at the   
rooms far end when Carol and Gadget carried food laden trays to their table.  
"OK girls, listen up. We have a special guest joining us today", announced Carol.   
"A big hand please for Gadget 'One Punch' Hackwrench."  
There was a moments pause while the women already seated puzzled over the   
strange introduction. Then the entire table erupted in cheers and applause. Harry   
heard the commotion and started making his way towards it. It sounded like a celebra-  
tion and that always meant choice hand outs.  
Alex was fuming. They should have been back at the lab by now assembling the   
metamorphosizers, not engaging in a coffee clatch! He leaned out of his pocket and   
called up, "As long as I'm stuck here could you at least pass down some food? I haven't   
eaten since breakfast."  
Gadget waited for an opportune moment then slipped a cookie off the table and   
dropped it down to him. It slipped through his hands and landed on the floor.  
"No, that's OK," he grumbled under his breath. "I can get it myself. I certainly   
wouldn't want to upset anyones meal."  
He climbed out and began making his way down. If Alex had kept in mind where,   
as well as what, he was rather than wallowing in self-pity he would have realized how   
risky this little jaunt was. He reached the floor just as Harry came into sight and froze.   
He was not merely still, he was paralysed. Alex had been frightened before in his life   
but never like this. This went beyond simple fear. It welled up from the deepest most   
primitive parts of his brain. The instinctive fear of prey for predator. There was a mo-  
ments hesitation while his body decided which of it's fight or flight options to select and   
then he shot out of the room at top speed.  
Harry had been aware of a rodentine presence but Alex was in no real danger   
from him. There was plenty of food around and he wasn't in the mood to play. Besides,   
some humans had a negative reaction when he demonstrated his prowess as a   
mouser. Instead, he went under the table and began weaving around the numerous   
limbs there, twisting his body in ways that only a cat can.  
Any human would immediately know the feeling of a cat rubbing against their leg.   
To Gadget it was a new experience. She looked down and saw a feline face staring   
back at her in a wordless question.  
Where's the food?  
"I see you've found whiskers," said Carol. "She reached down and picked up the   
animal. "Or he's found you."  
Gadget was well aware of the feelings and instinctive reactions mice had con-  
cerning cats. And, like all mice, she learned to suppress and control them. But now   
she felt only their complete absence. In fact, she found herself thinking, 'He's kind of   
cute. Just a big fluffy ball of fur. And that purring is kind of soothing. How could any-  
one be afraid of a creature like this?'  
  
Alex was, by this time, completely lost. Once out of the commissary he, or rather   
his body, had run a twisted route. Changing directions whenever he encountered hu-  
mans. He had finally regained control of himself and was now pressed flat against a   
wall trying to catch his breath. He reflected that he was probably in a part of the com-  
plex he knew but it all looked so different from a mouse's perspective. Perhaps if he   
gained some elevation. Found a desk or something to climb up on.  
"Gotcha!", a voice from above sounded as a hand closed over him. He'd been   
so intent on his problem he hadn't heard the human coming up behind him.  
Jacob Normally didn't play the part of exterminator. He'd simply been taking his   
usual afternoon tour through the complex, checking up on various projects, when his   
attention was drawn to an old dust rag on the floor. What had attracted his attention   
was the fact that it was moving. A moment later a toga clad mouse starred up at him   
from his hand. It didn't struggle or try to bite him so it was obviously used to being   
handled. That fact, coupled with the improvised clothing, told him all he needed to   
know.   
"Now they can't even keep them in their cages," he grumbled and set off down   
the hall.   
  
"And they're coming into the final lap," the announcer droned as the two cars   
continued to jockey for position.   
The rat in the driver's seat of number five looked back to seen the mouse in car   
eleven coming up fast. As it pulled along side it swerved sharply into the other car   
sending them both into a spin and off the track.  
"Wipe out, dude!"  
"You can't wipe out on land. That's surfing."  
"A wipe out's a wipe out, and that was a total wipe out."  
"Rodent racing again?" came a voice from the door way.  
The two racers, Chuck and Paul by name, immediately shot to attention.  
"Well," said Jacob, exasperated, "go on, pick them up."  
The two youths quickly gathered up their RC cars and removed the "drivers".   
They were hampered a bit by the jury rigged seat belts which were more for keeping the   
animals in the car than for safety. After the rodents had been returned to their cages   
the two resumed their "at attention" stances in front of Evans.  
Jacob regarded the teens for a moment and then looked past them. Stacked   
against the wall were several racks of cages containing various test animals. Across   
the room from them were work tables littered with what appeared to be large skeletal   
rats. Closer inspection would reveal that they were actually robots. If the Terminator   
had been a rodent it would have looked like these.  
This project wasn't Jacob's baby but it did have his support. The idea was to   
build better robots by observing how living creatures moved and behaved. Once per-  
fected these machines could be used, for example, by archeologists to safely explore   
ancient ruins and caves. Or by rescue workers to search through collapsed buildings   
for survivors. One could even be included on a future Mars lander.  
Chuck and Paul, however, were a completely different matter. Normally the ani-  
mals were cared for by the researchers in the course of their studies. Recently some   
bean counter had decided it would be more efficient to hire minimum wage help for the   
task. Jake's first sign that it wasn't working out was when he had walked in one day to   
find them playing Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots with the prototypes.  
He sighed.  
"No. No lectures this time. No threats. Just carry on as usual, that'll give me all   
the reason I need to fire you. Till then I only have one thing to say." He held out his   
right hand revealing a mouse wrapped up in an old rag. "No more toga parties!"  
He deftly stripped the animal of it's clothing and deposited it in a nearby cage.   
He turned on his heel and departed without another word. Now, anyone else would   
have been taken aback by Jake's lack of temper, but this was Chuck and Paul.  
"Killer, dude. He didn't even yell at us this time."  
Even if the two teenagers had been the observant types, and they weren't, they   
probably wouldn't have noticed the commotion taking place in one of the cages.  
  
After Alex had been unceremoniously dumped in his cage he found himself im-  
mediately the center of attention as a mouse rushed over to him.  
"Are you all right? Talk to me!"  
Alex tried to respond. "Uh, yeah. I think..."  
He was pushed roughly aside.  
"Bob? Are you OK Bob?"  
Alex now saw the true cause for concern. In dropping into the cage he had   
landed on another mouse. The mouse slowly stood up. And up. And up! This mouse   
could have easily passed for a small rat. He grabbed the smaller mouse.  
"What are you trying to pull, Mike," he asked angrily.  
"It wasn't me, Bob. It was the new guy," he pointed nervously at Alex.  
Bob dropped Mike and shifted his attention to the new arrival. His look was pure   
malice.  
"You trying to make trouble?"  
"Big Bob don't like people makin' trouble." Mike peered around the bulk of his   
friend. "Big Bob don't..."  
"Shudap!" Bob backhanded Mike. It was a casual motion, like a man swatting at   
a fly, but still sent the smaller mouse flying across the cage. He was up in a moment   
and back at Bob's side.   
"Sure Bob! Shutting up, Bob!"  
The mouse grabbed Alex and hauled him up to eye level.  
"Listen pal, around here there's humans and then there's me."  
Alex had never been the confrontational type. Truth be told, he usually took   
pains to avoid them. However, the events of the day had worn down his usually passive   
nature. He drew up his feet, which weren't touching the floor anyway, and kicked hard   
against Bob's chest. The larger rodent immediately dropped him and reeled back, try-  
ing to catch his balance. Alex plopped down on his rear and found himself at a loss for   
what to do next. Bob had recovered and was coming towards him with murder (or at   
least severe maim) on his mind. Alex resigned himself to his fate. He was bracing him-  
self for the punishment that was to come when a strong, clear - if somewhat high   
pitched - voice sounded.  
"Rescue Ranger away!"  
  
Why, Chip wondered, don't humans post signs and directions in these ventilation   
ducts? Of course, there were no rational reasons for humans to do this but after making   
his fifth wrong turn in as many minutes he needed some one to gripe at. Finally he   
caught sight of a vent grate up ahead. A good strong push and it was open.  
Lab A12 spread out before him. He saw two young humans at the far end of the   
room and racks of caged animals directly below him. It was the work of a moment to   
secure a line to the vent frame and slide down to land on top of the stack. His attention   
was immediately drawn to a commotion taking place below. A large mouse was ad-  
vancing menacingly on a smaller one. Chip didn't know the details of the altercation but   
he knew a bully when he saw one. Kicking open the cage door he sounded a battle cry   
and swung down.  
Bob found himself taking a chipmunk full in the face. As testament to the big   
mouse's strength he didn't go down. Alex, though not a fighter, knew how to take ad-  
vantage of an opportunity. He dove at Bob's legs causing the embattled mouse to drop   
forward.  
"Find me some string. Fast!" Chip ordered. He knew that once Bob regained his   
feet they'd have a real fight on their hands. Their best bet was to finish this now, while   
he was still down.  
Alex scanned the cage and saw the string Chip had swung in on. Giving it a   
sharp tug to dislodge it's safety pin grapple, he carried it back to Chip. In a few mo-  
ments they had Bob hog tied.  
"When I get loose I'm gonna..." Bob's threats of retribution were cut short as Chip   
wound a loop of string around his snout and pulled it tight.  
With the battle over Alex directed his attention to his rescuer. The chipmunk put   
him in mind of a small Indiana Jones. With his battered fedora and bomber jacket...  
"Hey, you're Chip aren't you? You're just like Gadget's description."  
Suddenly Alex had a chipmunk hanging off him.  
"Gadget? You've seen her? She's alright? Where is she?"  
"Um, well, she's unharmed. She's been through some changes, though. We got   
separated so I can't say exactly where she is. The commissary, last I saw her."  
Alex shied away from the details of her changes. How do you tell someone their   
friend has been transformed into another species? Fortunately Chip didn't press the   
subject. As long as she was OK all he was interested in was her location.  
"You just point me in her direction," said Chip getting up. He went to the center   
of the cage and then seemed to wander a bit, starring up at the ceiling. He turned his   
attention back to Alex.  
"Wasn't there a string hanging...," he trailed off, catching sight of the trussed up   
mouse behind him and realizing what had happened.  
Alex, still in the dark, stared up at the ceiling trying to see what was wrong.   
Since he didn't know what he was looking for it was a few seconds before it clicked.   
The line Chip had swung in on had been the only thing holding the cage open. Without   
it the spring loaded door had snapped shut. He looked back down to see the chipmunk   
glaring at him.  
"Well, you said to get you some string," Alex said weakly.  
Chip climbed the cage wall and spider walked across the ceiling to the door. He   
spent several minutes fiddling with the lock only to find that the extra money O.T. had   
shelled out on escape proof cages had been well spent. The door could only be   
opened from the outside.  
The were stuck.  
  
Gadget was lost. Or rather, she had lost something. It had taken fifteen minutes   
for her to discover Alex was gone. She immediately made some hurried excuses and   
set out in search of him. The problem was she had no idea how to go about it. He   
could be almost anywhere in the building complex. Why, with a cat around he might   
even be... She pushed that thought out of her mind. Alex was alive and in the building.   
He had to be because the only other alternative was something she wasn't ready to   
deal with.  
She had stopped for a moment, leaning against a wall, when she saw it. She   
hadn't been looking a anything in particular, just casting her gaze around, when her eye   
lit on what appeared to be a tear in the sealing tape connecting two sections of wall   
board. Humans have a rather stereotypical view of mouse holes. Usually as a large   
circular hole cut into the baseboard. Of course creatures who are trying to remain hid-  
den would never have such and obvious entrance for their homes. The large mouse   
holes were rarely used, more than decoy purposes than anything else. True mouse   
holes were carefully hidden though they could still be found if one knew what to look for.  
Gadget backtracked a bit, recalling a vending machine she had passed. Shortly   
afterwards she back at the hole. She peeled back the wrapper of the Nutty Bar(TM)   
and dropped it in front of the opening. Now there was nothing to do but wait and hope   
her human reflexes would be fast enough.  
The wait turned out to be a short one. It was only a minute before a whiskered   
snout poked out. Gadget tensed and flattened herself against the wall. Catching mice   
bare handed is not some thing humans are generally good at. However, since this was   
a hidden entrance her prey wouldn't be expecting her. The mouse took a few sniffs and   
stretched out, trying to keep as much of it's body hidden as possible. Gadget bent   
down and with one quick swipe of her hand caught the small animal.  
The mouse, needless to say, was not pleased with this turn of events. It let loose   
with a stream of invectives that brought a red flush to Gadget's face.  
"Hey, watch your language! I understand every word you're saying."  
The mouse was brought up short by this and eyed the woman appraisingly. Hu-  
man/animal communication was rare but not unheard of.  
"All I want is some information," said Gadget. "And," she picked up the Nutty   
Bar(TM) and waved it just out of reach, "I can pay for it."  
Some time later they had relocated to the vending machine. The top of it was   
now strewn with empty wrappers and crumbs. The mouse, one Humphrey by name, sat   
in the midst of it all working on his sixth candy bar. Monterey Jack had a well earned   
reputation as a bottomless pit and Dale could certainly put away more than his fair   
share. This little mouse put them both to shame.  
"So, you haven't seen Alex?" Gadget asked.  
"Nope. Although there was another person here today looking for a mouse."  
He looked at her expectantly. Gadget hesitated, half of the information she'd got-  
ten so far had been worthless and she didn't want to throw good candy after bad. Fi-  
nally she handed him another bar.  
"There was a chipmunk here earlier," he said, tearing into it. "He was looking for   
some one named Gadget."  
"Chip was here?"  
This was a wrinkle Gadget hadn't counted on. She had to find Alex but on the   
other hand she couldn't leave Chip wandering through the complex looking for her.  
"Do you know where he went?  
Again the expectant look. Gadget fished in her pockets and eventually turned up   
a few coins.  
"Alright," she said. "But this is the last one. I'm tapped out."  
  
"I spy with my little eye something that begins with B." Alex waited but no reply   
was forthcoming from Chip. "Guess we're still not on speaking terms. Rosie, how   
about you?"  
"Um, just a moment. You said B, right?" came a voice.  
With Chip uncommunicative and Mike off sulking in a corner he had struck up a   
conversation with a mouse in the cage below.  
"Bars?"  
"Darn. I was hoping that was to obvious to guess. Got any other games? This   
is getting boring."  
"Considering some of the horror stories I've heard about other labs we should   
count our blessings if boredom is our only problem," Rosie said. "At least they're not   
cutting us up or pumping us full of chemicals."  
"Alex! Chip! You're both here. Golly, that's convenient."  
Both Chip and Alex started and turned to face the woman regarding their cage.   
With Chuck and Paul rushing around the room in an effort to look busy they had tuned   
out human motion. Thus she had entered the lab and walked right up to the rack of   
cages without being noticed.  
"Gadget! Jeez, I'm glad to see you," said Alex.  
"Why did you run off?"  
"Well, it was really my body that ran off. I had no choice but to go with it."  
Chip was trying to follow their conversation but his mind was still stuck on their   
first exchange. Alex had looked right at the woman and called her Gadget. Now that he   
took a good look at her there was something familiar about...  
"Wait a minute," he spoke up. "You aren't... I mean you can't be..."  
"One word," said Gadget. "Metamorphosizer."  
Chip slapped a hand against his forehead.  
"No wonder I had so much trouble finding you." He turned to Alex. "So you must   
be..."  
"I was until this morning."  
"Hey, I don't know what you guys are talking about," came a voice from below,   
"but if you're planning an escape I want in."  
"Golly, I didn't expect all these animals. I'm not sure how to get them all out."  
"All of them?" asked Alex. "Chip and I are the ones you came for."  
"Well thanks a lot!" said Rosie.  
"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm not unsympathetic but she can't walk out of here with her   
pockets stuffed full of rodents. Someone's going to notice."  
"No," said Gadget definitely. "I'm not leaving a single animal caged in here."  
"I wouldn't bother if I were you," said Chip as Alex began to protest. "I've seen   
her like this before."  
One of Gadget's greatest assets as a Ranger, perhaps more so than her   
mechanical skills, was her ability to empathize with other creatures. If others were suf-  
fering or in distress she felt their pain as her own and would do everything in her power   
to help.  
"The first thing we have to do is take care of those two," she indicated Chuck and   
Paul. "I can't do anything with them here."  
The two teenagers were still engaged in their tasks, occasionally glancing side-  
long at Gadget. Neither could remember seeing her before but she had on a white coat   
so she must have belonged there.  
Gadget put on a show of checking cages while they brainstormed. Finally Rosie   
said, "Well, why don't you just vamp them?"  
"Vamp?" asked Chip.  
"Sure. Look, she's very attractive by human standards. If she turns on the   
charm she could have them eating out of her hands." She addressed Gadget directly,   
"Just use your feminine wiles."  
Gadget looked confused. "I don't think I have any."  
"We all do, honey. Some of us are just wilier than others."  
Gadget was resistent to the idea. Oh, she knew what Rosie was suggesting.   
She had put on such an act before, when they were playing out Dale's spy adventure.   
There were things one did for friends, however, that one just didn't do for strangers.  
The discussion continued until Gadget said, "I think we're making this a lot more   
complicated than it needs to be. Let me try something."  
She walked to the center of the room and clapped her hands sharply. Chuck and   
Paul looked up from their tasks.  
"OK." said Gadget. "Everyone out."  
"Huh?"  
"Got some new tests to try on the animals. Top secret stuff. Eyes only."  
She took each boy by the arm and ushered them towards the door.  
"This could take a while so why don't you go get yourselves a snack and relax.   
B'bye." With the last word she closed and locked the door. She took a small bow to the   
smattering of applause from various cages. Everyone could tell something was up even   
if they didn't know what.  
Gadget set about searching the room and eventually turned up a dust mop left   
out by the boys. Their liberal interpretation of their duties didn't include putting away   
cleaning supplies when they were done with them. She unscrewed the mophead and   
carefully propped one end of the handle against the still open vent. She set the other   
end on the top row of cages. Now she got to work opening each one, taking care to   
disengage the springs so that they remained open.  
"There's no time to explain," she said, "but I know you can understand me. Just   
climb up to the vent. You should be able to find your own way out. I'm sorry I can't do   
more."  
She gathered up Chip and Alex and made her exit as dozens of rodents began   
their climb to freedom.  
  
"So all this," Alex gestured to a cluster of diagrams, "deals reading the energy   
states of the target organism, while this processor," he gestured to another section,   
"sorts for those patterns concerned with physical form so they can be imposed on the   
host."  
"And this," Gadget indicated another page, "handles shunting mass from one   
subject to another."  
They were back in lab five now. A workbench had been appropriated and   
cleared of boxes only to be covered again by papers and various bits of hardware they   
had cannibalized for parts. In the middle of it all lay two nearly complete metamorpho-  
sizers.  
Chip was feeling a bit left out. Gadget had busied herself with assembling the   
devices while Alex did his best to decipher Nimnul's scribblings. This left Chip with   
nothing to do but stay out of the way.  
Finally, after the last connection had been soldered, they were ready. A space   
was cleared on the floor and Gadget and Alex braced themselves for the change. Chip   
stood a good distance away. They weren't sure what would happen if a third creature   
got caught up in the switch and really didn't want to find out. The transformation was   
easier this time since they both knew what to expect. They found themselves in a re-  
verse replay of the mornings events. Alex stood naked in his human form while Gadget   
found herself buried in clothes.  
Chip ran through the pile and began searching through it.  
"Chip," he heard Gadget's voice, "over here."  
She had wrapped herself in a shirt sleeve. "Um," she blushed, "Chip, I'm not   
wearing anything under this."  
Alex didn't have the communicator but it was easy enough to guess what Gadget   
was squeaking about.  
"Well, I'm not wearing anything at all," he said. "If some one were to walk   
through that door I'd be out of a job."   
He had tried to lock it but to lock and unlock the door required a special key card   
which Jacob had neglected to give him. Alex was doing his best to maintain his dignity   
with two strategically placed hands. The problem was solved easily enough by Chip   
offering Gadget his jacket.  
As Alex struggled into his clothing he noticed the Gadget wasn't at all comfort-  
able with her brief attire. She kept slouching over and pulling it down as far as she   
could. Chip, on the other hand, didn't seem at all embarrassed by the fact that he was   
now naked save for a battered fedora. Her pushed problem from his mind. What mat-  
tered now was that he was human again. He could ponder the nudity taboos of other   
species some other time. He stood up, making a few final adjustments.  
"I don't know about you two but right now I just want to get home, have a good   
meal, a long soak in the tub, and pretend this day never happened. Say, you guys need   
a lift? The park is right on my way..."  
He never finished the sentence as Jacob Evans burst through the door. Chip   
and Gadget ran for cover as he turned on Alex.  
"We've had a security breach! Seal this lab immediately."  
"A breach?"  
"An unknown woman calling herself 'Doctor Hackwrench' got through security at   
Data Processing and took some of the Nimnul papers. She knew our protocols and   
codes. And there's no telling what else she gotten into. I've heard rumors of some   
mystery woman who laid out Edward Kearny.  
Alex rushed to calm him down.  
"Sir, there was no breach. I gave her the codes." He pushed on before Jacob   
could respond. "I met her at lunch. We got to talking and it turns out she once worked   
with Nimnul. I figured if we want to make sense of his work than some one who knew   
the man's mind would be quite an asset. I guess I jumped the gun bringing her on   
board but she was just here for the day. If we'd waited we could have lost her."  
By now Alex was rushing the words out, trying to forestal any objections. Evans   
held up his hand to stop him.  
"Alright, alright. I know you well enough to trust your judgement. Just check with   
me on these things from now on. So, this Hackwrench knows her stuff?"  
"Oh, she's brilliant. Even if she hadn't worked with Nimnul I'd recommend her for   
the project."  
"OK then. I look forward to meeting her."  
Meeting her? Alex was at a lost for what to say next. He'd just done his best to   
make Gadget seem invaluable. How could he tell him she'd never be back?  
"Uh, you know that rumor you heard was true. She did knock out Kearney. He   
might..."  
Jacob waved it off. "You let me worry about Ed. He's not the only one around   
here with friends in high places."  
He turned his attention to the rest of the room and saw the table which had been   
wrecked by Gadget's earlier growth spurt.  
"Trouble?"  
"Uh, it just collapsed. Guess it couldn't take the strain. I'll talk to Maintainance   
about it."  
"You do that." Jake tossed Alex a key card. "Lock up after you straighten things   
up. I'll expect to see you and this Hackwrench bright and early Monday morning," he   
said as he left.  
Alex stood there for a few moments pondering his options. He'd painted himself   
into a corner and there was only one way out. By now Chip and Gadget had emerged   
from hiding and looked up at him questioningly. He hunkered down to their level and   
addressed Gadget.  
"So, you free Monday?"  
  
  
The End?  
  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Ok, here it is. Two years in the making. I'd like to dedicate this in general to ev-  
ery one who's kept the Rangers alive for the last ten years. Whether you drew pictures,   
wrote stories or just provided an audience; thank you. Specifically I'd like to thank Rob-  
ert Hollingshead, alias RoboNerd, who was the first to turn Gadget human in "Sizable   
Chances". I liked the idea but I thought so much more could be done with it. This story   
is the result. Thanks also to Roy Neal Grissom for reading an early draft and encourag-  
ing me to continue; Charity and John Nowak for helping me with some plot points; and   
the whole gang over at the Acorn Cafe.   
I know I can't write long involved plots like Michael Demcio. I certainly can't put   
as much emotion into my work as Meghan Brunner. However, I have tried to avoid the   
annoying errors that I've seen in so many other stories. I guess that's another reason I   
wrote this. We've all come away from fanfics thinking, "Hey, even *I* could do better   
than that." So, I'm finally putting my money where my mouth is. This story is by no   
means my magnum opus. I would greatly appreciate any comments or criticisms. And   
if you don't like the story don't just send mail saying, "It stinks." Tell me what you didn't   
like about it. I can't get better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  
  
Matthew Kirby  
  
  
Disclaimer: Alex Spender, Jacob Evans, Carol Nolan, Edward Kearney, Sharon Irving,   
Chuck and Paul are all copyright Matthew Kirby. All other characters copyright Walt   
Disney and used without permission.  
  



End file.
